DVSA publishes 5-year road safety strategy

Apr 3, 2017

The DVSA has published a 5-year strategy, which sets out the work DVSA will do up to 2022.

The strategy explains what DVSA will do to help all drivers through a lifetime of safe driving and help them keep their vehicles safe to drive. It also sets out the work that DVSA will do to protect road users from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

The DVSA says that by December it will have created detailed plans for each of these three themes, including how success in each area will be measured.

In terms of helping drivers through a lifetime of safe driving, the strategy outlines plans to better meet the needs of learner drivers and all drivers, and to raise driving standards.

To help people keep their vehicles safe, the strategy discusses providing better information for drivers including making sure they have information to help them choose where to get their vehicle tested and up-to-date information about when a vehicle needs to be checked and fixed. For vehicle testers, it discusses making it easier for them to access up-to-date standards and encouraging or requiring them to take training and obtain qualifications to improve the quality of their testing.

To protect people from unsafe drivers and vehicles, the strategy states: ‘We’ll stop dangerous and high-risk operators and drivers from using Great Britain’s roads, and make sure that it’s financially better to follow the rules than break them’.

In the foreword, Andrew Jones, Road Safety Minister, says: “The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working every day to help you stay safe on Great Britain’s roads. Its work affects everyone in the country – by making sure motorists have the knowledge and skills they need to drive safely, and freight can move efficiently on our roads.

“We should be proud of Great Britain’s strong road safety record. In 2015, road casualties were the second lowest on record.

“However, we need to plan for the future. As technology improves, vehicles will become more capable of driving themselves. We need to make sure driver training and testing keeps up, and the MOT adapts to be able to test vehicles that rely more and more on software.”